The Reason Why Yumi Likes Contact Sports
by adsummum
Summary: Being from a class that is not very enthusiastic about sports, Yumi finds herself a victim of a situation that happened during gym class. The pairing is Sachiko/Yumi, you might see it if you rub your eyes and squint. Oneshot.


Disclaimer: I do not own Maria-sama ga Miteru (that's quite obvious enough). This is fanfiction and I am making no profit from this. Thanks.

The Reason Yumi Likes Contacts Sports

The squeak of rubber sole sport shoes on the floor of the gymnasium was mixed well with the sharp thudding sound that the basketball made when rebounding off the gym floor. The second-year Pine Group was having a tough time during Gym lessons. With the Gymnasium being fitted in with new basketball hoops, their Gym teacher was adamant that they should all learn to play basketball for this term's gym lessons. Hence, after splitting the class into two teams, the game proceeded at a fast and furious pace.

Yumi looked around the court and she saw her team mates running around and trying to regain possession of the ball. Ah, she spotted Yoshino-san, the self-proclaimed leader of their team, running around tirelessly trying to shout out instructions on her newest stratagem to the rest of her team mates. Sighing, she tried to re-join the game after day-dreaming about what lesson her onee-sama, Ogasawara Sachiko-sama was having at this time of the day. She rued the day when it was decided by the Timetable committee of Lillian High School that 3rd years and 2nd years would have different Gym class time slots. Shaking her head once more for not paying attention, she tried to assist her team mate Mami-san.

"Time out!" yelled Yoshino, forming a 'T' sign with her hand. Their gym teacher nodded, approving her request, giving them 5 minutes.

"Gather around me, gather around me!" exclaimed Yoshino excitedly, like a team coach ready to give a pep talk to her already weary team.

"Ok, people, plan A has worked well for us. However, we may now need to switch tactics due to us having the lead by 2 points. So now we will switch over to plan B, where we will instead emphasise more on defence!" declared Yoshino, much to the dismay of the rest of the class. It was good that Yoshino was actually so enthusiastic about the game, but her competitiveness coupled with her thirst for actually playing sports, as compared to just watching them on television, were adding a lot of stress on the whole second-year Pine Group who were not very keen on sports. Noticing the grim mood, Yoshino shot Yumi a look, pleading for Yumi to aid her in injecting some enthusiasm in this class. However, Yumi who was busy day-dreaming about her onee-sama had hardly been able to catch Yoshino's desperate pleas for help. An exasperated Yoshino had to resort to poking Yumi to bring her back to Earth.

"Y-yes, Yoshino-san! We would definitely love to find out more," squealed Yumi, who had barely managed to understand what was going on. The rest of the class resigned themselves to listen to another talk on basketball tactics, while at the same time trying to remind themselves of any redeeming points that Yoshino might have. With that, Yoshino began dishing out her next plan to win the game.

"Alright, Tsutako-san, I think we may have to trouble you here, please go and mark that player on the other team. The other three of you, please defend our hoop with gusto. Now, Mami-san, you will follow me to go mark Itsue-san, as she runs so fast, and has been scoring the most for the opposition. Our main objective is to harass her non-stop when the ball is in her possession. We must wave our arms fast so as to make sure she can't pass or shoot the ball, this effect should be able to deflect any of her shots. It will be a terrible psychological barrier to the opposition team! Our defence will be impenetrable!" declared Yoshino with glee. With that, Yoshino carried on dishing even more tactical jargon, and the further she went on, the less the class managed to understand. They were rescued when the gym teacher told them that the 5 minutes were up.

The team tried to wipe away the look of confusion on their faces as they tried their best to follow Yoshino's instructions. Yumi was trying hard to block the opposition's shots on the basketball hoop. Panting and out of breath, Yumi stood near the hoop to try and catch her breath. However, the opposition had managed to gain possession of the ball from her team and were on the counter attack. A team member of the opposition team was waiting near her to receive the ball. Feeling bad about not having contributed much to her team, Yumi ran out towards the girl, deciding to mark her. Itsue, who had been harassed non-stop by Yoshino and Mami, was near her wit's end. Being unable to see past those hands that were moving like windscreen wipers, she misjudged her pass to her team member.

Wham.

All Yumi could see was that flash of orange. All she could hear was that dull sound of the ball colliding into her face. All she could feel was her bottom lip throbbing badly.

"Foul!" Yoshino cried non-stop, ever ready to jump on any single fault of the opposition, "I think that constitutes as a foul. A very vicious attack on poor Yumi-san!"

"I could hardly see anything let along the basketball," protested Itsue, who had to bear the brunt of Yoshino's attacks.

Yumi placed a finger to her bottom lip and realised that her lip was cut.

"Oh. My. Gosh. Is that… Blood?!" exclaimed a student nearby.

"No, it's Ribena," snapped Yoshino, who was irritated at how brainless a person could get.

"Seriously?" the student replied.

"Yes," said Yoshino, "and, by the way, I'm a natural blonde."

The teacher, seeing the accident, called play to a halt and came to take a look at the injuries that Yumi may have sustained. After peering at her closely, she proclaimed her fine except for the laceration on her lip. To be on the safe side, she ended the lesson, and requested that Yoshino bring Yumi to see the doctor at the sick bay.

Yumi had felt a little dazed after being smacked in the face by a ball, so she was glad that someone familiar like Yoshino was helping her there. As Yoshino was bringing her to the sick bay, she pestered Yumi non-stop with questions, 'Does your lip hurt badly?', 'Do you need to sit and rest for awhile?', 'Do you feel faint?'. It was to Yoshino's great relief that the doctor had inspected Yumi and proclaimed her to be fine except for the cut on her lip. Yumi was given the day off to go home and rest and recover from her ordeal, and she felt as if she was given a reprieve.

"You don't need to do this Yoshino-san. It makes me feel bad that I'm causing you to miss lessons."

"I need to make sure that Yumi-san reaches the school gates safely to take a cab home."

"I'll be fine, I think I don't feel that dazed anymore already. And the bleeding on the lip has stopped."

"But there is a chance that you may still faint!" exclaimed Yoshino loudly, "And of course, it is imperative that I make sure you reach home safely or else Sachiko-sama would blame me if any other mishap were to befall you."

"You tease me, Yoshino-san."

"Oh no, not at all. How could you ever doubt my good intentions, Yumi-san? Besides, what would you do if you met someone with dishonourable intentions?"

"Like?"

"Like…" Yoshino faltered at that simple word, as Lillian was, after all, a respectable school, and there didn't seem to be hoodlums hanging right outside the school gate.

"Yumi-chan! Oh and Yoshino-san," exclaimed a familiar voice in front of them. The two students stopped their friendly banter to look up at the approaching person.

"Like her!" Yoshino announced triumphantly, pointing at to the person who had just arrived, Satou Sei.

"How rude, didn't your parents teach you that it's rude to point at people?" questioned Sei, before inquiring on what had happened. Yoshino, seeing a chance to give her own version of what happened, gave Sei an embellished version of what happened, exaggerating the lead which her team had and, of course, the seriousness of Yumi's injuries.

Sei listened with an amused expression, and when she heard Yoshino explaining that there might be a remote possibility of Yumi fainting, she placed her arm around Yumi's shoulder and said, "Aww, that's no good. If Yumi-chan were to faint, I might have to administer the kiss of life to help revive you."

"Eh?!" Yumi practically screamed in fright, she tried to inch a few inches away from Sei, "Sei-sama, please don't joke about stuff like this. I don't think you even know CPR."

"What if I do know?" teased Sei relentlessly, "Would Yumi-chan let me practise on her?"

"Aah, please don't say things like these, Sei-sama," said Yumi, trying to hide behind Yoshino for protection.

"Oh, embarrassed?"

"Sei-sama, try not to tease her too much today," said Yoshino level-headedly.

"I see. But Yoshino-san, you don't understand, Yumi-chan's reluctance has hurt me," whined Sei, pouting, "If I recall she was rather bold when giving me my farewell gift1."

Yoshino's eyes narrowed at such a comment. She did not recall Yumi telling anyone about a farewell gift to Sei. She turned towards Yumi, looking for an explanation.

"Well, you see… it was…she was…t-there was…" Yumi dithered, wondering if she could somehow find a way out of this rather pressing situation. It was true that she hadn't told anyone about that farewell gift, and she had never planned to tell anyone about it. Sei gave a wicked smile, knowing that Yumi was now caught in a difficult situation, she wondered how Yumi was going to find a way to escape this. A growling stomach would hardly be able to throw off a persistent and reckless Yoshino.

"Oh, is that a cab I see?" Yumi said, the relief showing on her face.

"Yumi-san, you're not running away!"

"Bye Yoshino-san. Thanks for walking me out! Eh, really sorry we can't talk any longer. I really do need my rest!"

"Yumi-san, I won't forget this!"

-The next day-

Yoshino stormed into the Rose Mansion determined to find Yumi and extract the truth from her about the farewell gift. She was getting impatient with Yumi avoiding her and her glares of "Tell me the absolute truth!" during lesson times. After lesson time, she was determined to corner her and question her about it, but Yumi had class duty and Yoshino had no choice but to leave for the Rose Mansion first. However, all thoughts of Yumi and the farewell gift flew out of her head when she was confronted by a hysterical Sachiko, waiting behind the biscuit door on the second floor.

"Yoshino-san, what's this about Yumi being injured?"

"Sachiko-sama, please calm down. Yumi isn't injured badly; she just got a cut on her lip."

"Yes, Sachiko, please do calm down and be reasonable," said Rei, Yoshino's onee-sama, sounding incredibly like the voice of reason.

"Don't ask me to calm down here, Rei, when you would be the first person screaming your head off if this ever happened to Yoshino."

"Hey, don't drag me into this," protested Rei.

Shimako and Noriko just sat passively at the table, following the conversation as if they were following a series of volleys in a tennis match.

"How would you explain this?" shrieked Sachiko, grabbing the just published Lillian Kawaraban and flapping it non-stop in front of Yoshino's face. Yoshino grabbed it, and quickly scanned through the article, noting that it was written by Mami-san who was present during the time of the incident. The title screamed "Rosa Chinensis en bouton severely injured during Gym lesson!" As Yoshino scanned through the title, she saw phrases like 'Rosa Chinensis en bouton had a ball of a time', 'suffered a direct blow to the face', 'injuries gushing out blood', 'face might be bruised', 'forced to leave school', 'students are fearing the worst'.

"Sachiko-sama, I think that this report is plain rubbish," said Yoshino, trying to stop herself from snorting in derision, after reading the report that was totally absurd.

However, before Sachiko could further interrogate Yoshino, the door opened to reveal Yumi walking in.

"Yumi, are you fine?" Sachiko, wasted no time in inquiring about Yumi's well-being.

"Yes, onee-sama, I am fine. Thank you for your concern, but the only injury I got was a cut to the lip."

"Stay still," requested Sachiko, as she fished out her clean silk handkerchief, and she dabbed gingerly at the cut on Yumi's bottom lip.

"Onee-sama…" said Yumi, who was quite lost for words, but at the same time, very touched by Sachiko's gesture of concern.

"Next time, please take better care of yourself so that I won't need to worry so much about you," said the person whom Yumi adored greatly. That gentle rebuke made Yumi feel that maybe getting a small injury here or there once in awhile would not be such a bad idea after all. She basked in the moment, where for that one moment; she had Sachiko all to herself. Subconsciously, Yumi decided that she really loved contact sports.

"Ahem," coughed Rei lightly, "Earth to Sachiko and Yumi." After being reminded that they were not alone, and that they were currently under the scrutiny of everyone else in the room, they sprang away from each other.

"Rei-chan, you silly fool. You are such a wet blanket! Can't you read the mood," cried Yoshino, flustered and annoyed that Rei had managed to spoil such a moment, "Go ahead, go ahead, please continue from where you both left off, Yumi-san and Sachiko-sama. Please pretend that we don't exist at all."

Smiling, Yumi and Sachiko politely declined Yoshino's kind offer, giving the excuse that the meeting really ought to begin soon, and sat down next to each other.

End.

_Please review :) I would really appreciate feedback on how I can improve or on what was not so good. Thanks!_

1 In Season 2 Episode 4, we all know that Yumi gives Sei a kiss on the cheek as a farewell gift.


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